"Man I Am" is a song by English singer

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

for ''

Barbie the Album ''Barbie the Album'' is the soundtrack album for the 2023 film ''Barbie'', directed by Greta Gerwig. It was released by Atlantic Records on July 21, 2023, the same day as the film's North American theatrical release. The album was produced by M ...

'', the soundtrack of the 2023 film ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

''. It was released on 21 July 2023, as the album's third promotional single.

Background

On 25 May 2023, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' announced a partial tracklist of the ''

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

, with two additional tracks and surprise artists to be revealed at a later date. On 10 July, Smith was revealed as the second surprise artist of the soundtrack, with their song "Man I Am" being released on 21 July. On 12 July, Smith teased the song on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

with a clip from the film.

Production

Smith was invited by ''Barbie'' director

Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig ( ; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. Initially known for working on various mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing ...

and soundtrack producer

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

to write a song from Ken's perspective. Ronson described the track as "the missing piece of Ken's puzzle" and "put

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...

the sound of Ken's liberation perfectly into song".

Personnel

All credits are adapted from CD liner notes of ''

''. *

– songwriter *

– songwriter, producer *

Eric Frederic Eric Burton Frederic (born January 15, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American record producer, singer, songwriter, and the founder of Nice Life Recording Company. In 2005, he formed the musical project Wallpaper., which last ...

– songwriter, producer, piano, synthesizers, guitar, drum programming * Ethan Shumaker – engineering *

David Odlum David Odlum is an Irish music producer, engineer, guitarist, and drummer who has worked and played with Academy Award winners and Mercury Prize nominees. Originally a member of Kíla, a band which was founded during his schooldays at Coláiste Eo ...

– Sam Smith vocal engineering *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixing

Charts

References

{{Barbie, state=autocollapse Songs from Barbie (film) 2023 songs 2023 singles Atlantic Records singles Capitol Records singles Sam Smith (singer) songs Songs written by Mark Ronson Songs written by Ricky Reed Songs written by Sam Smith (singer) Song recordings produced by Mark Ronson